Skating Love
by Ravenic Tauro
Summary: After a break up with Bill, a distraught Fleur discovers her best friend's deepest secret. One that he has kept for over 3 years.


**Skating Love**

**A/n: A special thanks to my close friend and partner in crime **_JustOneBookWorm _**for beta-ing this for me. **

Fleur ran sobbing out of the Burrow. She felt a deep sorrow that she thought would finally be put behind her. In her sorrow, her veela aura had become unsuppressed and her hair flowed out behind her as she ran. Tears streamed down her beautiful skin, leaving behind tear stains on her beautiful unmarred skin. If anyone had been watching her flee, they would have wondered what could have possibly put such a figure of beauty in such a state.

The cause of her stress was from none other than Bill Weasley. She and Bill had been going out for a few years now, and for that time it seemed that he would treat her as she deserved, that he would see her as something other than just a veela. It something that she tried to put behind her, to pull away from the unfair stigmata that marred the veela race. Unfortunately, it seemed Bill had been nothing different. That in itself made her incredibly sad, she had begun to trust him completely, when he had pulled his latest stunt.

Normally following such an episode, she would have gone to see her best friend, for she knew that he would be there for her and would comfort her. Unfortunately, Harry had not been seen for over two days. No one knew where he was or what he was doing. Almost no one anyway. Harry's other closest friend, Hermione, knew where he was, but she refused to say where or what. No matter what they did, she would not cave in and tell them.

Over time, they had given up trying to figure out what he did. Every few months, Harry would disappear for a day or two and would be unfindable during that period of time. So, they had given up. Having nothing else to do, Fleur had fled the Burrow in tears, hoping to get away from the damned Weasleys.

The night was young on this day; the moon had risen and was clearly visible amongst the stars and cloudless night sky. In just a few days, the moon would be completely full. Normally at this time of day, the land would be filled with the numerous sources of sounds in the night, whether it be crickets, owls, or frogs. However tonight, if Fleur had been paying attention, she would have noticed that it was completely silent.

But, she did not notice this as she fled towards the large pond that was someways from the Burrow. She hoped that the peacefulness of the water would be able sooth her. As she came towards the lake, she felt a small tingling as if she had passed through a series of wards and they had granted her access to whatever it was that they were guarding. However, yet again, Fleur did not notice this. Coming to the end of pond, she stared at the water, wondering how it could be so calm while she was in such turmoil.

When she raised her beautiful light blue eyes towards the opposite end of the lake, she gasped through her tears. For sitting on the far shore was a black figure. From this distance it was impossible to tell just who it was; you could not see any distinguishing features. Yet somehow, she knew just who it was: Harry.

Slowly, she made her way around the shore, toward her wayward best friend. Coming out of her sorrow slightly, she wondered why Harry was situated here. No one had seen Harry for a few days and this whole time he was just by the pond.

When she finally made her way to him, she saw just what he was doing: drinking. Harry said nothing as she got close to him and sat, pulling her legs up to her chest as tears coursed down her cheeks.

It was quiet for a while as Harry took a long pull from the bottle he was holding, glaring at it when he saw it was empty.

"Lily", Harry called into the darkness suddenly, startling Fleur who had been watching him.

A small pop alerted Harry and Fleur to the small elf's arrival.

"Yes Master Harry?", she said in a quiet voice. Lily had long ago learned to keep her voice volume to a minimum when her master was in this state; even her arrival pop had been quiet, rather than the loud crack that normally accompanies a house elf's arrival.

Fleur looked at small elf curiously. Lily had become Harry's personal house elf after Dobby had been killed during the war. Hardly anyone had ever seen the elf, and Fleur idly wondered who had unknowingly named the elf after Harry's mother.

"Lily, I'm going to need another bottle", his voice was slurred a bit. Then for the first time, Fleur noticed that he was drunk.

The small elf simply nodded and disappeared with that small pop. A few minutes later, an answering pop announced the return of the elf who handed a bottle to Harry and disappeared again.

Harry cracked the top of the bottle and took a swig from it as Fleur observed the man who was her best friend.

He had changed significantly from the small boy that she had met all those years ago during the Triwizard Tournament. The Harry that sat quietly next to her, was vastly different. Clad only in a pair of jeans, leaving his chest bare as his feet sunk into the soft sand of the bank. Without a shirt, Fleur was just able to make out the small snowflake tattoo that sat just above his heart, the mark of his element. No longer was he a skinny boy. He had filled out and was covered in lean muscles, not enough to be overpowering. His once black hair had also changed. It was now a short, pure white that stuck up in spikes as if it were ice, leaving a hard look. However, Fleur knew that if she where to touch his hair, it would be very soft.

The war with Voldemort had changed Harry. During his 7th year at Hogwarts, it had been discovered that he was a dormant ice elemental: a latent ability that was passed down through the Evans line until a time that it was needed arose. That time had come after a particularly horrible raid by Voldemort. With his powers awakened, he had given his all to training, his ability, and using it to defeat Voldemort. Harry had come out of his training with his raven black hair giving way to the ice white that now covered his head and a small tattoo on his chest, symbolizing his commitment to his element. This had been a turning point for the war effort. The side of the Light now had someone to really believe in; someone that could finally bring about the end of the vile and bloody war that had raged across Britain since Voldemort had arisen at the end of the Third Task.

No one knew for sure just how Harry had defeated Voldemort. All that magical Britain cared about, was that the war was finally over. Harry had been praised as a hero to the wizarding world, but he had just seemed to cave in upon himself, falling into a depression that no one knew how to break him out of. Only one single person besides Harry knew the true reason for his depression and that was Hermione. She, along with Fleur, were his closest friends, and Fleur was unknowingly the reason behind his depression. Hermione had only found out about the reason during Christmas of their 6th year, and she had sworn to Harry she wouldn't tell anyone. That Christmas had marked the beginning of his slow downward spiral into depression. That had been almost three years ago, a year later he defeated Voldemort and it was then that Harry truly collapsed in upon himself. He began disappearing for days at a time and would come back to the world often times more depressed than he was leaving.

Fleur was broken out of reverie by Harry taking another pull on his drink.

"Harry…"

He seemed startled by her soft call and looked over to her with his emerald eyes, as though he had just noticed her there.

"Are you drunk Harry?"

His eyes swam for a moment before locking onto Fleur, then flicking back the bottle in his hand.

"Q..quite."

"Don't you think you should stop?"

His eyes locked with hers as he considered her question for a moment.

"Nope. I'm not drunk enough to drown out my sorrows yet", He said after a moment.

Fleur looked at him quizzically.

"What sorrows?", perhaps now she could understand the reason for his depression.

Harry regarded her for a moment. "That depends on why you're here and in such a state", he said finally.

At the reminder at what had happened, Fleur looked down as tears came back to her eyes. Harry saw this and reached out to comfort her, wrapping her in his embrace. She sighed, relaxing into his chest because for the first time that night, she felt at home and safe.

Pulling away after some time, she looked at the bottle in his hands as though debating if she would need it. Harry saw her looking at the bottle and handed it to her.

"Drink?"

Fleur glanced at the bottle now in her hand as though unsure, before raising the bottle to her lips and taking a long pull. Immediately after having ingesting some, she sprayed it out as it burned her throat.

Harry laughed before taking the bottle from her and taking a drink.

"You can't just take such a deep drink at that stage, Fleur. This here is straight vodka." He said proudly, as if he was boasting that he had just defeated a dragon barehanded. This in itself proved just how drunken Harry was, as he was never one to boast or even admit to doing something by himself.

Fleur coughed and glared at Harry.

"And just why do you drink vodka?"

"Because I needed something stronger?" he replied questioningly.

Fleur knew that that wasn't the only reason but let it slide for now.

"So why are you here Fleur?"

She sighed in sadness before reaching for the vodka again and took a small careful swig.

"I thought he was different Harry," It was obvious even to a drunk Harry, who she was talking about. "I thought that I had finally found someone who didn't care that I was a veela. Someone who cared about me."

"Maybe you already have…", came a barely audible statement from Harry. Fleur, unfortunately missed it.

"Bill took me to his room early and said that it was time that I finally 'reciprocated' his advances," she said spitefully spitting out the word reciprocated. "When I told him no, he freaked out and told me that I should just be a good little veela that did what she was told. It was then that I realized that he wasn't any different than anyone else, so I slapped him and fled outside before he could see me cry."

Harry was outraged at her story and tried to stand up as if to go after Bill, but Fleur's grip on him prevented him from even moving.

"So that is why I am here. Why are you here Harry?"

Harry stopped struggling to get up and sighed quietly. After a few moments he began to speak, surprisingly not slurred by the alcohol.

"We've been friends for what? 5 years now?" he asked her.

She nodded, it was true. Following the incident during the choosing of the champions at the Triwizard Tournament, they had become friends. When Fleur had proclaimed that Harry was just a 'little boy', she had seen the look that had crossed his features. He had proceeded to stalk out of the room with a look of disgust at her. She had immediately regretted her actions, and the next day had tried to find him in order to apologize. But, Harry had eluded her for most of the day. It was coming upon night when she had come across him sitting by Black Lake, leaning against a rock.

At first, Harry had not wanted to talk to her at all. But after hearing her heartfelt apology, he had proceeded to break down in her arms. His friends had abandoned him and the entire student body believed that he had cheated in order to enter the tournament. It was then, that Fleur realized just how similar that they really were. They both were wanted for something that neither really were.

That day, they had become true friends; they became the closest of friends. They went to the Yule Ball together, she was there to comfort him when he came back from the graveyard with Cedric's body, she was there when Ron had finally showed Harry just what he really thought about him, and she was there when Sirius died. Likewise, he was there when her so called 'boyfriends' showed their true colors and he was there to comfort her when her family was attacked by Voldemort himself. They had become nearly inseparable. Only Hermione had such a close relationship with Harry.

"What you don't know is that I've been in love with you for nearly 3 and half years of that."

Whatever she had been expecting, it was not that. He nodded sadly at her shocked face.

"It's not some crush, some simple fling. No, I am completely, head over heels in love with you. It was during Christmas of my sixth year that I realized it."

_Flashback Start_

_December 25th 1996_  
_Christmas Eve_  
_Grimauld Place_

_Harry sat oblivious to the party in full swing below him. He was not in the mood to party, despite the fact that it was Christmas Eve, a night when everyone should be in full spirits. Yet, he was not. In fact, this was one of the worst days of the year for him. He had realized, just that day, that he was madly in love with one of his best friends and he couldn't even tell her. She was in a happy, content relationship with someone he considered to be a part of his family, and her happiness meant more than anything to him. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that and ruin her night. Instead, he occupied himself with avoiding the party completely, sitting in front of the fire on the second floor. He hoped that people would leave him alone in his sorrow, but it was not to be._

_Harry was staring into the fire, sipping his butterbeer, wishing that it contained more alcohol then it did, when his other best friend, Hermione, walked into the room and sat quietly next to him._

"_Is there a reason why you're sitting up here by yourself when there's a party going on downstairs, Harry?" she asked._

"_Yes," he replied dully._

_When it was clear that he wasn't going to elaborate, Hermione prodded further._

"_And that reason is?"_

"_It's nothing, Hermione. You should go back to party."_

"_I'm going down there without you, Harry. I'm your best friend. I know that there's something wrong and you are going to tell me what it is," she said in a voice that left no argument._

_Harry sighed knowing it was impossible to hide anything from Hermione. She would only keep on pressing until he caved and told her._

"_I realized that I'm in love with Fleur."_

_Hermione arched her eyebrows._

"_How did realize this?"_

"_I was downstairs when I saw her with Bill, she looked so happy. I wished that I could have someone like that. Then, I saw Bill kiss her. I felt like something snapped in me. I realized that she was that someone that I want. All of the feelings that I had buried from the war came rushing back to me. I felt overwhelmed and I knew that she was the one that I love."_

"_And?"_

"_And? She's with Bill, dammit!", he yelled._

"_So? Just tell her how you feel, Harry. Don't keep it bottled up."_

"_I can't do that Hermione."_

"_And why not?"_

"_Because her happiness means more to me than anything else. Because I would be breaking the happiness that she is in right now with Bill. Because I care for her more than anything.", he said passionately._

"_Oh Harry," Hermione cried out as she wrapped her arms around her distraught friend._

_They both stayed up there for the rest of the night as Hermione tried to comfort her heartbroken, best friend._

_Flashback End_

Harry wiped the tears that had formed in his eyes. "That was when I realized that I was truly in love with you. It was also when I started drinking and the start of my depression."

Fleur looked at her friend, who had just poured his heart out to her, in shock. She had never realized that he had held such deep feelings for her. However, now that she thought about it, it made sense. They were always together and she had never seen Harry go out with any other girls. He never in looked interested in any of the girls that were throwing themselves at him; especially the way they did after he defeated Voldemort.

Fleur was broken out of her reverie when she heard a soft sobbing coming from him. She realized that he was crying, the bottle of vodka lying forgotten on the ground next to him. Fleur wrapped her arms around Harry and just held him before he began speaking again.

"The…then two days ago became the worst day of my life. "

"What?" What could be worse than realizing you were in love with your best friend and couldn't do anything about it?

"T….tw….two days ago it was late and I was coming downstairs to get a drink, when I overheard Bill talking to Molly. I had been quiet and they hadn't heard me coming down the stairs. I was about to walk into the room when I heard Bill mention your name, so I stopped to listen. Bill said…he said that…" he trailed off as a fresh set of tears made its way forth.

"When he said what?" Fleur asked softly.

"He said that he was going to ask you to marry him."

Fleur was visibly shocked, but Harry was oblivious to this.

"He was going to ask you marry him today and when I heard that, I realized that I would never be able to get you. Up until that point, I had always hoped that somehow you would break up and I would be able to tell you of my feelings. But, when I heard him say that he was going to ask you, I felt like my heart was torn in two. I knew that you would say yes, I saw how happy you were with him. So I did the only thing I could and ran from the house. I've been here since then, knowing that when I came back that it was likely you would be engaged."

Fleur didn't know what to say to this. So instead, she just held the distraught Harry, realizing that if Bill hadn't had been such a bastard today, that she could very well be engaged right now.

For some time, nothing was said as Fleur just held Harry in her arms. Eventually, his tears dried up and he was just content in enjoying the comfort that she provided. Fleur herself, was in a mental turmoil. She didn't know what to do. Here her best friend had just poured his heart out to her, revealing his most precious secret: he was secretly in love with her, that she was the unknowing cause to his deep depression. As she thought about Harry, she realized that she had harbored some feelings for him, although they were not nearly as deep as the ones that he clearly held for her. But, she was willing to see what became of them.

Pulling away from Harry, she saw his head rise as he looked at her questioningly.

"Fleur?" He was prevented from saying anything else. Her lips suddenly crashed against his.

For a moment he was shocked, so much so that he was unable to respond and Fleur pulled back. It was then that Harry realized that she had kissed him, and not in just a friendly way. When it finally hit him, he wrapped his arms around her neck and pulled her back to him as he kissed her. He felt her tongue pushing against his lips, wanting access which he readily gave. As her tongue began mapping out his mouth, Harry felt the passion that he had tried to bury inside of himself rise to the top.

This kiss was unlike anything that Fleur had ever felt before. She now knew exactly just how much that Harry loved her. It was mind blowing, and she realized that she was beginning to love him too.

As they pulled away, Harry gasped breathlessly.

"Wow…"

"Oui…"

Nothing else was said or needed to be said as they wrapped their arms around each other, content knowing that their feelings had finally been pulled to the surface and revealed.

It was nearly a half hour later when Harry pulled away from Fleur and rose to his feet.

"Come on, I want to show you something."

Fleur said nothing and looked at him puzzled as she too rose to her feet.

Walking to the edge of the pond, Harry crouched down and reached his hand forward, touching the surface of the water with a fingertip. Fleur watched on, amazed as from where his finger touched, ice began spreading across the pond until the entire surface was covered in thick ice. Harry stood up as he surveyed his handiwork.

Then, he took out his wand and waved it at his feet.

"Labor lapsus." The bottom of his feet glowed a light blue for a moment and he smiled, and stepped out onto the ice.

"Harry… what?"

Harry smiled and reached out to take her hands.

"Come on Fleur," he said encouragingly.

She sighed in defeat and took out her wand, and repeated the same spell. As her feet too glowed blue, Harry pulled her out onto the ice, before effortlessly gliding away

"Harry!", she cried as she saw him leave her. He turned quickly, a stumble in his step, as he was still a little drunk. But, he was still quickly at her side.

"Come on Fleur, it's easy."

"Are you sure about this Harry? I've never done this before."

Harry laughed happily. "Fleur, I may be slightly drunk still, but trust me. It'll be fun."

Fleur smiled at how happy Harry was and decided to humor him. She unsteadily slid out onto the ice, her hand firmly in Harry's. As they got further into the pond, Fleur suddenly stumbled and tripped, pulling Harry down with her. He yelped as they both slid a good few feet across the ice. When they came to a rest, Fleur noticed that Harry had fallen on top of her. Teasingly, she reached up and kissed him quickly before pushing him off and getting up and gliding away effortlessly.

Harry realized that he had been had and quickly stood up as well, before chasing after his love.

From a window of the Burrow, Hermione smiled with happy tears in her eyes as she looked upon her two best friends chasing each other upon the frozen pond. After all this time, they were finally together, and they could live out their lives in peace with the threat of the wizarding world lying frozen somewhere in Antarctica, never to be unthawed or harm another innocent.

**A/n: This was a small fluffy idea I had about a hidden romance between Harry and Fleur. The snowflake tattoo/ice elemental is a nod towards **_**whitewolves11**_**'s fic Breathless which is one of my favorites.**

_**Labor lapsus**_**: to slip, glide, slide.**


End file.
